High Pitch Delivery - S.Saketharaman

HIGH PITCH DELIVERY

S. Saketharaman commenced his concert with a beautiful Tamil composition in Bahudhari by Achudadasar ”Sadha nandha Thandavam..” with perfection.

Sri Muthuswami Deekshithar’s Varali raga kruthi in Sanskrit “Maa mava Meenakshi” was the next soulful rendition. Vittal Rangan on the violin provided good support. After a brief Bilahari aalapana (with a yaman kalyan interlude surprisingly) the vocalist presented “Dhorakuna Ituvanti Seva..” of Thyagaraja. A rather pitched delivery, the beautification of Bilahari was at “Ramabrahma  Thanayudau..” followed by thani aavarthanam. Cherthalai Anandakrishnan and Chandrasekara Sharma displayed a wonderful layavinyasam.

In order to fulfill a rasika’s request, then came the famous Papanasam Sivan’s tamil composition “Sivakaama Sundari Jagadambaa vandarul Thandarul..” in Mukhari set to Aadi taalam. Being Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharathiyar’s birthday, the next number was “Kaakkai Siraginilae Nandalaalaa..”. Starting with Durga/Sudhdhasaveri it was a ragamalika piece. Even this song was rendered in a high pitch.

Then came a Bhairavi raga aalapana with SindhuBhairavi running in parallel. A very detailed exploration brought out the intricacies of both Bhairavi and Sindhu Bhairavi. The re-play on the violin was very good. That was followed by Thaanam in both Bhairavi and Sindhu Bhairavi. The artiste was riding on two horses....but successfully in both. “Manadhil Urudhi Vendum..” was chosen for the Pallavi. The artiste improvised by decorating the pallavi with Vasantha Bhairavi and Aananda Bhairavi.

Another Bharathiyar song “Chinnanjiru Kiliye Kannamma” basically in Kapi and blossoming into a ragamalika with Maand, Vasantha..etc popularised by M.L.Vasanthakumari (in the film “Manamagal”) was nicely presented.

The concert was a well planned and neatly executed one. But if the vocalist slightly mellows down his presentation, it will reach a layman effortlessly and will definitely become thoroughly enjoyable.

About the Author:

SHANKAR VENKATRAMAN, a practising company secretary by profession, hails from a family with musical lineage. On the maternal side, his mother’s great grandfather Nemam Subramania Iyer was one of the last disciples of Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal. His maternal grandfather Nemam Nataraja Bhagavathar was the disciple of Mahavaidhyanatha Sivan and an Asthana Vidhwan of Sringeri Samasthanam. His son “Kalaimaamani” Prof N.S.Ramachandran was the Director of different  Kendras of All India Radio and the  Dean and Director of Music Department, University of Delhi. He had composed many kruthis out of which “Sri Chandrasekhara Yatheendram Aashrayae”on Sri Kanchi Paramacharya in Sankarabharanam popularized by Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi and “Sree Maha Ganapathae..” in Aabhogi an evergreen hit of M.L.Vasanthakumari are very popular.

Shankar Venkatraman’s father (Late) K.V.Venkatraman, son of Kanjanur-Kottur S.Vaithyanatha Swamy Iyer was an ardent devotee of Sri Kanchi Paramacharya and had served as the Correspondence-in-charge for Sri Paramacharya while Shri Periyavaa was camping in Kumbakonam during 1930-31(When Periyavaa was referred as Kumbakonam Periyavaa). Sri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar is Vaithyanathaswamy Iyer’s maternal cousin.

Shankar did his schooling at Vidya Mandir, Mylapore (1968-1982) Chennai and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He did his Company Secretary course from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Chennai-600034.

(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)